Hatred Can Kill
by CloudStrife1190
Summary: Malfoy has decided to make this Harry's worst year yet, but is he acting out the orders of someone else? H/G will develope in the later chapters. PG-13 for swearing and violence.(in later chapters) R/R!!
1. Arrival at the Burrow

Chapter 1: Arrival at the Burrow  
  
Summer, as usually, had been pretty dismal. Especially since the guilt of last year's events was weighing on his shoulders like a rock the size of Hagrid. That combined with the despair of living with the Dursleys for the whole summer was almost unbearable. But as long as Harry had contact with Sirius, his wrongfully accused murderer of a godfather, and his best friends, Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger. Thinking of them brought thoughts of Hogwarts to his mind. He longed to travel the hidden passages and rotating walls of the castle, and to see Hagrid, the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher.  
"Get up boy! Now!" Uncle Vernon yelled, interrupting his thoughts. He sighed and got out of bed, heading downstairs to make breakfast.  
Before he could reach the stairs however, Uncle Vernon was brandishing a letter in his face that had marks where the owl's talons had dug into the envelope.  
"A thing arrived this morning carrying THIS" He said throwing the letter at Harry. He quickly skimmed it and found that it was from Ron who was asking Harry to stay.  
Before Harry could ask if he was allowed to go, Uncle Vernon started yelling, "If these are the people that were here last year then the answer is NO. I don't need anything else destroyed around here by those FREAKS!!"  
Hearing this Harry had to hold back the urge to just punch his uncle right in his big, beefy face. But it was the next comment that put him over the deep end.  
"......Don't know what you were thinking when you let those shabby looking pieces of vermin in MY house..."  
Harry lost control there. With a yell, he ran Uncle Vernon into the wall with a mighty tackle. He had grown a bit stronger over the summer, but even he was surprised at the power of this tackle.  
Uncle Vernon threw him off, and with a purple faced, animal roar he grabbed Harry, threw him into his room and punched him across the face. Hard. That's all Harry remembered.  
He woke up with an icepack over his jaw. Tenderly, felt around the area where Uncle Vernon had punched him. He felt a sharp pain at the touch and recoiled his hand. Shakily he got up off the bed and looked around. He saw that he was in his own room and carefully head over to the mirror. He had a large purple spot where he had been punched and a cut lip from where he fell. After making sure he still had all his teeth he glanced at the clocked and saw that it read 6:20 PM. He had been out cold for the whole day. Since 7:20 this morning. He picked up the leter and read it over more carefully this time and saw that it said that the Weasleys would pick him up at 7:45 whether the muggles like it or not, as Ron had put it. He put on a decent pair of clothes and cautiously went downstairs. Uncle Vernon was sitting in his chair while Aunt Petunia and Dudley, his cousin were on the couch watching the news.  
"Awake are you?" Uncle Vernon called, with a rather strained look on his face.  
"Yes, and the Weasleys are coming for me any minute, so if you'll excuse me I have to get my trunk." Harry said with an vicious tone to his voice.  
"Coming for you? Who said you could go?" Uncle Vernon said rather maliciously.  
"I'm going whether you like it or not. At least they respect my existence, and I don't get punched out in their friendly hallways!" Harry shot back.  
"HOW DARE YOU INSULT MY HOME AND MY WAY OF DISCIPLINE?!" Uncle Vernon roared and dove at Harry while Aunt Petunia screamed and Dudley laughed smugly.  
Uncle Vernon got in a few good punches but just as he was getting ready to knock Harry into next week again, the fireplace roared to life with a giant green flame and out stepped Mr.Weasley, Ron, Fred, and George.  
Seeing the scene of chaos before him, Mr. Weasley set off a loud bang with his wand and said, "Excuse me but what is going on here?!"   
Uncle Vernon looked as though he just swallowed a very sour lemon as he was caught with a very bloody Harry Potter in his hands, in front of a fully-grown wizard and his children.   
Seeing Harry's blood, Mr. Weasley shouted, "Harry! Are you all right? Here get behind me. Fred, George, go get Harry's things."  
"You have no b-business here sir! I d-demand that you l-leave at once!" Uncle Vernon stuttered out. Harry though that Uncle Vernon was acting awfully brave with an angry wizard and his son pointing their wands at him.  
"It is my business if you are assaulting my son's best friend!" Mr. Weasley shouted back. In all the years that Harry had known him, he had never seen Arthur Weasley so angry before.  
"Harry catch!" George shouted and tossed Harry his wand from the hall. He grabbed it and pointed it weakly at Uncle Vernon, and in his weakened state managed to say, "You...stay..away from...me."   
But Uncle Vernon had had enough. Just as Fred and George were disappearing into the flames with Harry's trunk, he caught the Weasleys off guard and threw himself at them, like an angry bull.  
Mr. Weasley managed to dodge him, and yelled, "Harry, Ron, get out of here!"  
Ron complied by half dragging Harry into the flames and yelling, "The Burrow!" and then they were speeding through the floo network and into the Weasleys kitchen.  
"Oh goodness Harry!" he heard Mrs. Weasley say, as he rolled, beaten and bloody, onto the floor.   
All Harry saw right before he passed out were the shocked faces of Ron, Mrs. Weasley, Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione. 


	2. Diagon Alley and the Warning

Harry's first impression when he woke up was that he was in a giant furnace. He sat up and saw that instead he was inside Ron's room, with its orange wallpaper and Chudley Cannons posters.   
"Harry! You ok?" Ron said from the side of his bed. Harry hadn't noticed him in his confusion of waking up.  
"Yeah...I'm...I think I'm ok." Harry replied.  
"Good. Damn Harry, you really made those muggles mad huh? What did you do?" Ron asked. He was always eager to hear what sort of bad things happened to the Dursleys.  
"Tackled my uncle for starters. I couldn't stand him calling you guys freaks, so I lost control. He knocked me out and I woke up about 12 hours later. Then, right before you came in, he attacked me again. How bad was I when I passed out?" Harry said.  
"Oh man Harry, you were pretty messed up! Bruised jaw, bloody nose, cut lip, and you had a small gash above your right eye." Ron explained.  
"How long have I been out?" Harry asked, glancing out the window to see that it was day.  
"Most of the night. Like I said you were pretty bad." Ron answered.   
"Harry? Ron? Can we come in?" Came Hermione's voice through the door.  
"'Course you can. Harry's ok!" Ron yelled back.  
The door came bursting open and in ran Hermione with Ginny walking following shyly behind.  
"Harry! Harry, are you ok? We've been so worried about you!" Hermione said, going about a mile-a-minute with her words.  
"Yeah I'm ok I..." Harry began, but his words were cut short by a shout from the hallway, "OY MUM!!!! HARRY'S AWAKE!!!! Harry recognized the voice as Fred's, who was standing with George in the hall.  
"Harry ok there?" George said.  
"Of course he's ok! He's awake isn't he?" Fred said.  
"I was just checking don't have to get mad." George replied.  
"Hey maybe he'll feel even better with one of those toffees we've been experimenting with..." Fred began with an evil glint in his eye, but his words were cut short by the rest of the Weasley family, Mr. And Mrs. Weasley followed by Percy. All of them were clamoring to see Harry's condition.  
"Harry! Oh thank goodness Arthur got to you when he did! I can't imagine what those muggles would have done to you..." Mrs. Weasley said frantically.  
"Don't fuss Molly, he's stronger than you think. Can't say I would've taken a beating like that at his age!" Mr. Weasley said.  
Harry sat up and said, "Please, I'm ok all I need is something to eat. I didn't get to eat at all yesterday thanks to my uncle..."   
"Just in time dear. I was just getting breakfast ready." Mrs. Weasley said.  
"We should all leave and let Harry get dressed now. He had a hard day yesterday." Mr. Weasley said, interrupting everyone's frantic display of concern. In turn they all began to head downstairs.  
"Hey Harry I just wanted to tell you that you heal fast!" George said.  
"Yeah Harry what's your secret?" Fred said but then the twins were ushered out of the room by Mrs. Weasley.  
"See you downstairs Harry." Percy said clapping a hand on his shoulder, unknowingly causing more pain to Harry.  
"Well, see you downstairs Harry." Ron said, and left with Hermione.  
Suddenly the only two people left in the room were Harry and Ginny.  
Blushing furiously Ginny managed to say, "I'm glad you're ok." Before hurrying out the door. It was common knowledge to Harry that Ginny had had a crush on him since her first year. Getting dressed quickly, Harry went after her.  
He sat down at the kitchen table and began to eat the eggs, sausage, toast, and bacon that Mrs. Weasley had put on his plate.  
"If you feel up to it Harry, we'll be going into town today to pick up our Hogwarts supplies." Mrs. Weasley said.  
"Ok." Harry replied, and finished his breakfast. Being so hungry, he managed to eat three plates of food.  
After breakfast Harry, Ron, Fred, and George went up into the paddock to practice quidditch, while Hermione and Ginny watched.  
Ron, who had been planning to try out for keeper was often hit in the head by the apple that they were using as the quaffle.  
"Wow Harry for somebody who was nearly beaten to death yesterday, you sure can fly good!" Ron said in amazement as Harry zipped around on his Firebolt.  
After a while they headed back inside, and got ready to head to Diagon Alley in Mr. Weasley's new car, which was also bewitched to fly.  
After leaving Gringotts, the wizard bank, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were being followed shyly by Ginny, headed to their respective shops to gather supplies for the next term.   
As they were getting ready to leave, Harry, who had more than extra amounts of gold with him, bought himself, and his three friends chocolate fudge ice-cream cones. Ginny, who Harry was sure had never had this happen to her blushed furious shades of red, and managed to stutter out, "Th-thank you."  
Not all of their trip was fun and games though. While walking along with their ice-cream, They ran into Draco Malfoy and his cronies Crabbe and Goyle.   
"Well hello Potter. Still hanging around with this Weasley trash I see." Malfoy said, as Harry and Hermione grabbed the back of Ron's jacket to restrain him, and Ginny went red again, and moved unconscientiously closer to Harry.  
Malfoy saw this and said, "Well if it isn't Potter's little girlfriend Ginny! Have a nice summer girl? It's a pity that you have to put up with Potter coming over to your house every summer. Well you must enjoy having somebody who's rich and famous inside your...home"   
Harry released Ron's arm, and Hermione was left to restrain both boys.  
"Say something again Malfoy. Go ahead say something else about my family, and I'll knock you and your little friends into next week..." Ron said, maliciously as he and Ron struggle to get at Malfoy's throat.  
"Hey what's goin' on over here?" Came a loud yell. They looked over to see Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper, and Care of Magical Creatures teacher striding towards them.  
Humbled by Hagrid's massive bulk, Malfoy could only stutter out, "Nothing...we'll go now..." Then in an undertone to Harry he said, "Watch yourself this year Potter..." Then left.  
"What was that all about. Malfoy have summat ter say?" Hagrid boomed.   
"Oh the usual. Insulting my family, and Harry." Ron replied.  
"Ah yer worth about ten a that little git Ron. Hey listen I got ter go. On Hogwarts business yeh know. Well see yeh at the start of term!" Hagrid said and used his bulk to clear a path through the crowd of wizards swarming around Diagon Alley.   
"He's right Ron. You shouldn't listen to Malfoy." Hermione said.  
After a short period of time they met up with the rest of the family and got back into the car. Harry noticed that Ginny was staring at him a lot more than she ever did, but he shook off that feeling.  
They reached the Burrow in time for dinner, which was a fabulously cooked turkey. After dessert, which was chocolate cake, they all headed up to bed. Tomorrow they would leave for Platform 9/4, and head to Hogwarts. 


	3. Aboard the Hogwarts Express

A/n: I just wanted to clarify that in the last chapter I wrote Platform 9/4 instead of 9 3/4. (thanks to Chandler for the correction) I assure you that this mistake will not be repeated. So here's chapter 3 enjoy! ~The author guy  
  
Harry was roused out of bed the next morning by Mrs. Weasley. It was time to head to school. They hurriedly dressed and after a hasty ham and cheese omelet each, the piled their trunks into the car and left. They arrived at the train station with 15 minutes to spare. Percy hurried through the barrier followed by Fred and George, then Ron, Hermione, and Harry, and lastly Mr. And Mrs. Weasly came through with Ginny.  
Harry, Ron and Hermione quickly found a compartment and sat down. Not long after, Ginny came in and sat down, mumbling that everywhere else was full.   
Ginny pulled out a book and began to read, but not long after she had, Harry caught her staring at him over the pages. He pretended not to notice and turned to the hall where the dimpled witch with the cart was asking if they wanted anything.  
Harry bought loads of junk food for all of his friends and Ron began to talk about Voldemort.  
"What do you think You-Know-Who's doing right now?" he asked.  
"Probably thinking of some exotic torture to use on me." Harry answered.  
"Oh don't say that Harry. You know he's never going to hurt you as long as Dumbledore's around." Hermione said reassuringly.  
"True." Harry said, and saw that Ginny was again left out in their conversation.  
Wanting to include her he asked, "So Ginny, what do you think?"   
Ginny, who was caught off guard at being addressed by Harry managed to say, "Um...I don't know..." before blushing again.  
Right about then the compartment door was thrown open by none other than Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.  
Noticing all the food, Draco said, "So we have ourselves a little party oing on in here, don't we?"  
"Blow off Malfoy." Ron said.  
"Oh no Crabbe, Goyle let's get out of here! Weasley just threatened us!" Malfoy said, sarcastically. Then he said, "Well we don't feel like it Weasley. And we are feeling kind of hungry so if you don't mind, I'll take these chocolate frogs here..."and then grabbed a box of them.  
At this both Ron and Harry stood up and Harry said, "Unless you're going to pay for them, Malfoy, I suggest you put the chocolate frogs down. In fact give them back to Ginny, they're hers."  
"Oh really? Well why can't Ginny just come and get them?" Malfoy said, waving them above Ginny's head.  
But Harry had had enough. He snatched back the frogs and said, "I had the self-control to ask you nicely last time Malfoy, now I'm telling you. Leave us alone."  
Malfoy, who was slightly taken aback by this, recovered his composure and said, "You know Potter you shouldn't act like this in front of your girlfriend there." He gestured at Ginny, who blushed and turned away.  
Now it was Ron who had enough. He punched Malfoy is the face and said, "Don't ever insult my sister!"  
"Oh you just did it Weasley." Malfoy said and he, Crabbe, and Goyle advanced on Harry and Ron.   
But just as the real fight was about to break out, there came a voice from the hall saying, "Just what is going on here?"  
They all froze and turned around to see none other than former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin standing in the doorway.  
"Nothing...I was just..." Malfoy began, but before he could finish Lupin asked, "Is this your compartment Mr. Malfoy?"  
"No..." Malfoy replied with a pale look on his face.  
"Then I suggest you leave at once. We don't need any disturbances on the train." Lupin replied with a look that sent Malfoy and his cronies scurrying out of the compartment.  
"Thanks Professor." Harry said.  
"No problem Harry. Couldn't let you get beat up before term even starts could I?" Lupin asked with a laugh.  
"Will you be teach Defense Against the Dark Arts again this year professor?" Hermione asked.  
"Yes Hermione, it seems that with Voldemort's return, Professor Dumbledore wants me around to help out." Lupin answered.  
"Great! You're the best professor!" Ron exclaimed.  
"Thank you Ron. Now if you'll excuse me, I must head back up to the conductor, we're almost there.  
Hermione and Ginny had already changed into their robes but Harry and Ron hadn't so they went into the bathroom at the back and changed. When they came back up, they found that it was almost time to get off, so Harry they left Hedwig and Crookshanks, Hermione's cat, inside the compartment with their trunks, and headed out the doors onto the platform.  
"Firs' Years! Over here firs' years! All righ' there Harry?" Hagrid yelled, and they headed toward's the carriages that would take them up to the castle.  
Harry and Ron sat across from Ginny and Hermione, who had pinned her prefect badge onto her robes.  
Soon the reached the front doors of the castle and went inside the Great Hall. 


	4. The Opening Feast

As the students entered the Great Hall, they split off and sat at their house tables, waiting for the first years to arrive. Ron, Harry, and Hermione sat across from Fred, George, and Ginny. Ginny was staring at Harry as usual, and when he looked at her, she turned away, blushing.  
Then the first years arrived. Professor McGonagall walked in leading a line of obviously terrified first years.  
"When I call your name, you will place the hat upon your head and wait to be sorted." She explained.  
"Oh come on this had better not take long." Ron said.  
The sorting went on for what seemed like hours, but finally it ended, and the feast began. Mounds of stuffed turkey, steak, and other food items magically appeared on the plates.   
When they had finished eating, and the plates had been magically cleared, Dumbledore stood up to say, "I have a few start of term notices to bring to your attention. First, Professor Remus Lupin will once again be filling in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
There was a huge roar of applause from everyone except Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle.  
"Next, I would like to inform you that the Gryffindor quidditch team tryouts are to be held on September 7th. The open position is keeper, and the team will also need a new captain. Well that's all I have to say for right now, as it is time for bed." Dumbledore said, and the students began to head towards their common rooms. Hermione, who was a prefect, guided the first years through the twisted hallways and warned them of the changing staircases.  
When they reached the Gryffindor common room, Harry, Ron, and Hermione said good night, and headed up to their dormitories, but before Harry could follow Ron, Ginny stopped him, and with a beat red face said, "Um...thanks for getting my frogs back on the train...but you didn't really have to do that you know..."  
"Yes I did, Malfoy's an idiot and besides, if I didn't you know Ron would have." Harry replied with a laugh.  
Ginny gave a nervous laugh and said, "Well thanks anyway, and I guess I'll see you tomorrow." And ran off to join Hermione, blushing again.  
"What kept you?" Ron asked, as Harry entered the fifth year boys' dormitories.  
"Your sister wanted to thank me for getting her frogs back on the train." Harry answered.  
Ron snickered and Harry asked, "What?"  
"Was she blushing?" Ron asked, still smiling evilly.  
"Yes. Actually she always blushes when she talks to me." Harry said.  
"Well we've known why since second year." Ron said.  
"Yeah so?" Harry asked, getting a little irritated.  
"Oh nothing, I'll just have to see what happens Ron said, from behind the now closed curtains of his four poster.  
"What do you mean by that? Ron. Ron?" Harry asked, but Ron was apparently fast asleep. Harry gave up and fell asleep, and for some reason, dreamed of Ginny. 


	5. The First Day

Harry woke up next morning, still feeling a little stiff from Uncle Vernon's beatings. He found a note from Ron saying that he had already gone to breakfast. He quickly changed and went to join Ron. Harry found him sitting with Fred, George, and Ginny.  
"Hey Ron. Where's Hermione?" Harry asked as he sat down, and started to eat.  
"Right here." Hermione said before Ron could answer, and handed them their schedules, before sitting down with them.  
"We have Defense Against the Dark Arts today!" Ron exclaimed. Like Harry, he too enjoyed Professor Lupin's lessons.  
"Don't get so excited Ron, it's with the Slytherins." Hermione said, and Ron groaned.  
Again wanting to include Ginny, who looked rather left out, Harry asked, "What about you Ginny? Did you like Professor Lupin?"  
"Huh? Oh...Um yes...I guess...he was...good." Ginny said, in a startled tone of voice.  
Ron was eyeing Harry with a bemused expression on his face again, but Harry ignored it.  
When they had finished breakfast, they headed to Professor Lupin's room, and sat down.  
The bell rang, and then after a few seconds, Lupin entered the classroom, wearing his shabby robes.  
"Hello class. I'm sure you all remember me from your third year, but in case you don't, my name is Professor Lupin." He said.  
After taking roll, he said, "This year we will be studying some new and exciting dark creatures that I'm sure you'll enjoy. First, we will begin to study Dementors and the effect that they have on people, next we will move onto...onto werewolves and Lycanthropy. After that we will study an introductory unit on Vampires."  
For the remainder of the lesson, they read a chapter about the effects of a Dementor being near you, which Harry knew all too well.  
"I would like a written summary of the chapter please. I will give you three days to finish it." Lupin said when the bell rang. Then he said, "Harry could you stay behind for a moment?"  
After the rest of the class had filed out, Lupin said, "Harry, there's a reason Dumbledore brought me back. It's for the safety of the school, but more so for the safety of you. The spies at the Ministry report that one of Voldemort's Death Eaters has been planning something. I want you to keep on your guard this year, and if you see anything, I mean anything out of the ordinary, come to me or Professor Dumbledore immediately ok?"   
"Of course professor." Harry said, and was allowed to go.  
The rest of the day dragged on through a sleepy divination, to a boring transfiguration, then before lunch came, the dreaded first double potions of the year. Snape took it upon himself to terrorize Neville as a welcome back gift for him. He then proceeded to give the Gryffindors extra homework, and took 10 points off when Seamus Finnigan tried to stick up for Neville.  
"Why can't Snape get it through his thick skull that it is impossible to write three pages of total crap about a Vanishing Solution?" Ron asked.  
"Oh Ron, it's really not that hard. Just use your head!" Hermione said, which made Ron even more miserable.  
Harry was lying awake that night, still pondering what Lupin had said to him that morning, and he was wondering what he meant by "anything out of the ordinary." Was he suspecting an attack on Hogwarts? Or one of the students doing something wrong? All of a sudden, he put two and two together. Lupin had said that one of the Death Eaters was planning something. Nobody knew that Lucius Malfoy was a death Eater except for Harry. Draco Malfoy might be trying something this year. He decided that he would keep ask Hermione to keep a close eye on Malfoy this year, and then fell into a Ginny-filled sleep. 


	6. Quidditch tryouts

The next week went by rather quickly until September 7th arrived. Ron, who was just as excited as Harry, headed down to the quidditch field for the Gryffindor team tryouts at 9:00 AM.  
"Ah ickle Ronnie is trying out for keeper." Said George, when Ron and Harry arrived.   
"Oh shut it." Ron said.  
Just then, Madam Hooch arrived in the stadium and said, "Today you will be trying out for the position of keeper. When we have chosen a keeper, we will then choose a captain."  
Harry saw that many of the Gryffindor boys were trying out for keeper. He saw Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, Colin Creevey("Hiya Harry!") and many other boys that he didn't know.  
The rest of the Gryffindor team sat in the stands and watched the various techniques the boys used to deflect the quaffles that Madam Hooch had thrown. They noted that Ron and Seamus were doing exceptionally well. The team nearly pissed themselves when Colin tried to block three quaffles at once, and managed to get hit in the head by all of them.  
As Harry watched a second year boy try to catch a wayward quaffle, he saw a small red-haired girl sitting with Hermione about five rows down, so he went over to her and sat down behind her.   
She gave a startled yell when he said, "So Ginny who do you think is doing the best up there?"   
"Um...I think Ron's doing ok." Ginny said, and managed not to go too red, at being addressed by the boy who had saved her in her first year.  
"That's who I was thinking we would hire." Harry said, and smiled.  
"Oy Harry come here, it's time to decide who we want!" Came Fred's voice from behind Harry.  
"Well I'll see you later then Ginny." Harry said and joined his teammates, while Ginny stuttered out, "Bye."  
"Well, what do you think?" Harry asked everyone.  
"I was thinking that Ron looked pretty good." Said Katie Bell, one of the seekers.  
"Either him or Seamus." Said another seeker, Angelina Johnson, as Alicia Spinnet nodded.  
"Fred, George, what do you guys think?" Harry asked.  
"We're going with Ron on this one." George said.  
"Yeah who knew he had some talent in him?" Fred said, jokingly.  
"Ok, then. I'll go tell Madam Hooch." Harry said, and went down to where Madam Hooch was sitting.  
"Have you decided?" Madam Hooch asked as Harry approached.  
"Yes, we're going with Ron." Harry answered.  
"All right then." Madam Hooch said, as the keepers landed.   
"The Gryffindor team has decided that their new keeper will be Mr. Ronald Weasley." Madam Hooch told them all, as Ron went into a state of mild shock.  
"Congratulations Ron!" George exclaimed, as the team came down to greet Ron.  
"Yeah we knew you had it in you all along." Fred said.  
"Welcome to the team Ron." Alicia said.  
"Your attention please!" Madam Hooch yelled over the din. "We will now vote on who the new Gryffindor captain will be. You may not vote for yourself."  
When everyone was silent again, Madam Hooch said, "You will each come up and tell me who you want as captain, and I will add up the votes at the end."  
When all of the team had voted, Madam Hooch stood up again and announced, "The votes have been counted and the new Gryffindor captain will be Seeker Harry Potter."  
A roar of noise erupted from the stadium as a very happy Harry did a lap of honor around the pitch on his Firebolt. Harry, who had voted for Angelina, was, not entirely surprised seeing as how the rest of the team thought of him as the fastest player on the team. Someone in the stands caught his eye and he looked to see Ginny and Hermione cheering as well. When Ginny saw that Harry was looking at her though, she sat down and went red again.  
"Wow Harry, I'm on the team and you're captain. What could be better than this?" Ron said as he and Harry made their way back up to the common room.  
"Well, well, well, Potty's Quidditch Captain and Weasel made keeper. What a surprise." Came Malfoy's jeering voice from an offshoot in the corridor.  
"Do you always have to turn up at the wrong times you piece of slime?" Harry asked, staring at Malfoy in disgust, as Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward slightly.  
"You really want me to hurt you Potter don't you? Malfoy asked, maliciously.  
"I wasn't the one that backed out of the duel we were supposed to have. Remember the one in First year?" Harry asked.  
"Want to do it for real then Potter? Alright we'll go." Malfoy said and prepared to attack.  
"What's all this? What's going on here?" Came the tiny voice of Professor Flitwick from behind Malfoy  
"Uh....Nothing. I was just kidding." Malfoy said quickly.  
"Well get back to your common rooms then. We don't want any fights in the halls." Professor Flitwick said, and moved on.  
"You got away this time Potter, but watch yourself." Malfoy said, and walked away with Crabbe and Goyle throwing them threatening glances.  
"Let's go." Ron said, and they headed for the common room.  
"Password?" said the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
"Lion tongue." Harry said, and the portrait swung open to reveal the mostly empty common room.  
"Hey Harry I was wondering. What were you and Ginny talking about when I was up on my broom?" Ron asked, curiously.  
"I was just asking her who looked the best." Harry said, his ears getting slightly pink.  
"Oh...ok." Ron said as they climbed into their beds. "Yeah right...." Harry heard Ron mutter from behind his curtains.  
"What was that?" Harry asked.  
"Oh nothing. Good night Harry." Ron said, with humor in his voice.  
"Night Ron." Harry replied, still wondering why Ron kept saying things about him and Ginny, as he fell asleep. 


	7. The Quidditch match

The next few weeks were pretty hectic. Harry's training program, which was basically the same as Wood's, required them to rise very early, and practice late into the night. The night of the final practice before the game against Slytherin the next day, Harry and Ron were joined by Hermione, and headed to Hagrid's cabin.  
"I was wonderin' when ye'd come ter see me!" Hagrid said, as he let them in.  
"Sorry Hagrid, it's been very busy with both of us on the team, and me being captain and everything." Harry said.  
"Ah it's awrigh'. So tell me tha' Malfoy been givin' yeh any trouble lately?" Hagrid asked.  
"Oh the usual. Insulting my family. Bullying Harry and me. Seems like he's picking on Ginny more too." Ron said.  
"Actually, Ron it looks to me like he's been acting more against us than usual." Hermione said, as-a-matter-of-factly.  
"Well, as long as the little git don't try anythin' tomorrow at the quidditch game, yeh should be fine. Though if he does, then that's why Hermione's a prefect." Hagrid said proudly, making Hermione blush.  
"Well Hagrid, we'd better get going. Long day tomorrow." Harry said, as he got up from scratching Fang the boarhound's ears.  
They said goodbye to Hagrid and made their way up to the Gryffindor common room. Harry and Ron said goodnight to Hermione and started toward the boys' dormitories when Ron suddenly stopped and said, "Wait! I'm going to kill myself tomorrow!"  
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked.  
"Well number one we're playing Slytherin. Second, it's my first game." Ron answered.  
"Relax you'll do fine. Besides, I'm the one with the hard job." Harry said, reassuringly.   
"Yeah maybe you're right." Ron said, as they entered their dormitories.  
"Of course I'm right." Harry mumbled sleepily, and they both fell asleep.  
  
The next morning in the Great Hall, Ron didn't touch his food. Instead, he was coming up with ways that he might die during the match.  
"Oh Ron you're going to be alright!" Hermione said for about the fiftieth time.  
"Yeah Ron, just be ready that's all." Harry said.  
"Right." Ron said, not at all ready.  
Once the team had finished, they headed for the locker rooms. Harry was stopped by Ginny, who muttered, "Good luck." while Ron tried to hide his laughter, behind Harry's back.   
Fred and George had taken it upon themselves to 'improve Ron's morale' by making comments like, "Oh don't worry, as long as we're near you, you won't get too injured, but you're on your own when we leave."  
At last, the team headed out into the pitch, and took flight. Harry shook hands with Malfoy, as Madam Hooch asked, but let go immediately. The teams mounted their brooms and took their positions on the field.   
"Welcome to the exciting first game of the season. Slytherin versus Gryffindor." Lee Jordan, was commenting.  
Madam Hooch released the quaffle, and the game began.   
"Alicia Spinnet takes immediate possession of the quaffle and speedes toward the Slytherin goal posts. Pucey manages to wrestle it off of her, and throws it from half-field....nice save by Ron Weasley, newly recruited by captain Harry Potter. He passes it to Chaser Katie Bell. Now to Johnson. Back to Bell. Bell scores!!!! Ten nothing Gryffindor." Lee Jordan roared. "Here comes Adrian Pucey up the sidelines-ooohh that had to hurt-blocked by a bludger directed by Fred Weasley.-Warrington takes the quaffle and speeds toward the goalposts. Here comes George Weasley trying to keep a bludger off Ron-can he get there-No! Slytherin scores..."  
Ron didn't look very pleased but he had no time to be mad about it as Pucey was streaming towards him again.  
"Nice save by Weasley. Angelina Johnson takes possession-passes to Katie Bell-back to Johnson-now to Alicia Spinnet-WATCH THAT BLUDG-too late-Bell grabs for the quaffle but-what the?" Lee Jordan was interrupted as Slytherin Chaser Montague rammed Katie, knocking her off her broom. ("Foul!" Lee Jordan screamed.) The crowd watched in horror as she plummeted to the ground below but then, Harry came swooping in like a bullet, catching Katie about six feet off the ground.  
"I don't believe it! Harry Potter has somehow managed to catch Katie Bell in mid-air!" Lee Jordan roared, as Harry returned a very shaken Katie to her broom, and trying to assure her that it was nothing as he scanned for the snitch.  
"Well I guess that shows you how fast a Firebolt is...sorry professor, and the game resumes. Johnson in possession-she sco-no blocked by the keeper-wait He's seen the snitch!" There was a sudden roar of interest as Malfoy went into a dive. "Slytherin captain Draco Malfoy goes into a speedy dive after the snitch. Potter's on his tail. They're neck and neck-ooh they both seem to be killing each other-they pull up! The snitch is climbing with Malfoy and Potter right after it!" Lee Jordan said, excitedly.  
Harry and Draco were battling it out when suddenly Harry saw his chance. With an extra burst of speed, he reached up and his hand closed over the snitch.(Hary Potter grabs the snitch!) Malfoy however wasn't putting up with this. He pulled back to gain speed, then drove Harry into the Gryffindor goal posts. The crowd screamed as Harry fell off his broom from fifty feet and went plummeting to the sand. Ron went into a dive to try and catch Harry, but it was too late. Harry crashed into the sand with an almighty thump. The rest of the team and a whole crowd of people surrounded Harry, including Ginny Weasley.  
"Move aside there, c'mon now Headmaster's tryin' to come through. Harry! You alrigh' there?" Came Hagrid's booming voice as he made a path in the crowd for Professor Dumbledore.  
Dumbledore conjured a magical stretcher, and with the help of Hagrid, took Harry to the hospital wing.  
"My goodness what happened?" Madam Pompfrey asked, as the wheeled Harry in.  
"He was knocked off his broom Poppy." Dumbledore answered.  
"Got ter go now. Hope you feel better Harry." Hagrid said, as he and Dumbledore left. Harry noted that they both seemed to be pretty angry. Just then the rest of the team, Hermione, and Ginny entered. Ginny looked extremely pale, Harry noticed.  
"Harry! Harry, you ok? Great catch!" Ron said excitedly.  
"Harry are you ok?!" Hermione asked frantically. Katie Bell couldn't stop stammering thank you for saving her life.   
"Harry you should have seen Malfoy's face when McGonnagal was yelling at him!" Fred Weasley said.  
"Out!!!! Get out!!!! All of you! This boy is in serious need of rest!! OUT!!! Madam Pompfrey shouted, and drove the team out.   
Ginny blushed a little and said, "I hope you're alright." And then went out after Hermione.  
Harry suddenly realized that he was hurt. Bad. He winced as he tried to roll over but Madam Pompfrey pushed him back down and said, "Hold still, I need to check you over." She realized that Harry had suffered a broken arm, a fractured tibia, and two cracked ribs.  
"Now how exactly did you fall off this broom?" Madam Pompfrey asked.  
"Malfoy knocked me off." Harry replied wincing again.  
Madam Pompfrey headed over to a medicine cabinet, muttering about dangerous sports, and came back with a bottle of potion.  
"That's not what I think it is right?" Harry asked, reminded of the Skele-gro that he had to take in his second year.  
"No you're not de-boned this time, this is a simple healing draft." Madam Pompfrey said. She poured a beaker full and handed it to Harry saying, "Drink it all."  
Harry drank the potion, which tasted strangely like peaches, and handed the beaker back to Madam Pompfrey. A cool sensation spread through his body, tickling his broken bones. Within a few seconds of drinking the clear liquid, Harry felt the pain subside. Madam Pompfrey performed one last double check before letting Harry head back to the common room.  
As Harry was walking down the hall to the Gryffindor portrait hole, he was interrupted by Nearly-Headless Nick, the resident Gryffindor ghost.  
"Harry! Harry, are you all right? People have been saying you fell off your broom." Nick said anxiously.  
"Yeah I did. But I'm ok now. Madam Pompfrey fixed me up." Harry replied, still extremely angry with Malfoy.  
"Well that's a relief. Knew you were more resilient than I had thought! Well I must get down to the dungeons. We're having a ghosts' meeting to discuss the large amount of destructon Peeves has been causing...as usual...Well farewell young Potter!" Nick said, waving as he departed through the floor.  
"Password?" The fat-lady questioned, as Harry reached the portrait.  
"Waffle-sniffer." Harry answered, and with that, the portrait of the fat lady swung open to reveal the Gryffindor common room.  
Before Harry could enter however, someone inside yelled, "He's here!" then there was a roar of cheers and Harry was pulled inside the common room.  
"Great show Harry! Great show!" Some sixth year exclaimed as Harry was suddenly lifted up on to the mass of people, finding himself crowd surfing his way to the stairs.  
"Please put me down I'm very tired. Hello, are you people listening? Oh never mind..."Harry trailed off and allowed himself to be carried to the boys staircases.  
As soon as Harry was deposited on to the stairs, Ron came running up to him, pulling him into a huge hug.   
"Uh Ron, y-you're suffocating me!" Harry tried to say through the din. It wasn't until Professor McGonnagle came running into the common room in a night gown, shouting at them all to go to bed, did the crowd finally disperse.  
When Harry was safely inside his four-poster, Ron exclaimed, "That was your greatest catch yet Harry! You should do that more often!"  
"Er yeah Ron. I'll get myself killed EVERY time I play quidditch." Harry replied sleepily.  
"Hey it would be great for publicity you know. Don't you think? Harry? Harry?" But by the time Ron replied, Harry was fast asleep. 


End file.
